Ukrainian protesters in center of Kiev call for "people’s assembly"

The protesting activists wish government officials to come to Independence Square

KIEV, February 21. /TASS/. Demonstrators in the Ukrainian capital Kiev’s Independence Square are holding a night-time rally and calling for a "People’s Veche" (assembly) on February 21. Towards midnight there were more than 200 participants in the unscheduled rally left in the square. Activists of the organization calling itself Radical Right forces (also known as Revolutionary Right Forces) have been urging from the podium everybody to say. They promise that large groups of activists will gather in Kiev from different regions of Ukraine on Sunday.

"We wish a dialogue. We want to discuss what they (the authorities) have done over the past two years and what they are going to do, what their action plan is and how they see our future. We wish our people to have a chance to talk to them directly and to express their demands. If no response follows, we will stay for another night, and a third. It will be a peaceful action, a search for dialogue," the UNN quotes one of the demonstrators as saying.

The protesting activists wish government officials to come to Independence Square.

Skirmishes between extremists and national guardsmen

The center of Kiev has seen clashes between radicals of the Ukrainian extremist organization Right Sector (outlawed in Russia) and national guardsmen.

"Right Sector radicals and national guards are fighting right behind my back. As RS members have explained, they tried to bring tents where the demonstrators in the square could stay warm," said a correspondent of Ukraine’s channel News One.

The UNIAN news agency has said that activists in Independence Square have set fire to waste containers. Protesters are distributing hot tea and sandwiches to those staying in the square and bringing firewood for stoves.

Activists’ demands

Members of the Radical Right Forces’ so-called headquarters are demanding "legal dismissal of the president and government," as follows from the organization’s statement adopted on Saturday.

"We are calling on members of all initiative groups all over Ukraine to set up tent camps for peaceful demonstrations and to coordinate action with the central headquarters," the statement runs.

The activists are demanding the authorities release political prisoners on their list and do not resist the creation of a tent camp in Independence Square. They have promised to finalize their demands on Sunday, adding that "the revolutionary situation" happened unexpectedly.

"We are still to see in detail what demands the people have," the activists say.

The headquarters called for holding a "people’s assembly" at 17:00 (18:00 Moscow time) on Sunday.